“The public question which organisation independent candidates represent as they aren’t backed by any parties. I explain to them that I was from the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) in the past. After the merging of the two parties, I was in the Arakan National Party (ANP). I am competing as an independent candidate because I wasn’t selected as the party’s candidate.  If I win in the election, I will work together with other MPs from the ANP to carry out my tasks in line with the ANP’s principle,” said U Saw Tun Sein an independent candidate.

U Saw Tun Sein represented Pauktaw Township as a candidate from the ALD during the 1990 election. He did not run in the 2010 election since the ALD disapproved of the the 2008 Constitution but this time around he will be running for a seat in the lower house as an independent candidate.

“I’ve faced many difficulties in campaigning during the 1990 election because it was a transition period from one a party system to multiparty system. I am not facing such difficulties when I campaign for the 2015 election,” he said.

He started his election campaign on September 9th and has already campaigned in over 20 villages.

Similarly, U Maung Tun Thein, who will be running as an independent for a seat in the upper house, has often been questioned by villagers on the issue of vote splitting if independent candidates run in the election.

“When independent candidates are campaigning, the public often asks them whether or not there will be vote splitting with the inclusion of these candidates. I reply to them that there won’t be any vote-splitting if the public selects qualified candidates,” U Maung Tun Thein told Narinjara News.

He went on to explain that at first villagers looked at him with suspicion before he gave his speech, but  they understood what he meant after the speech ended.

“The villagers can’t differentiate between candidates for state parliament, lower house, and the upper house. They don’t know who will work in which area. They don’t know where the state MPs will work. They only know the title MP.  I explained to them that MPs from the upper and lower houses have to go to Nay Pyi Taw and these people are called Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (union parliament) MPs. For the state parliament, the MPs have to attend the Rakhine State Parliament,” said U Maung Tun Thein.

U Maung Tun Thein started his campaign on September 15th and he has campaigned in over ten villages since then.  Six independent candidates are running for seats in the three various levels of from Pauktaw Township.

Translated by Thida Linn with editing by BNI staff.